Understanding Child Development for Nurses

This assignment examines the crucial role of understanding child development in nursing practice. It delves into Piaget's theory of cognitive development and Erikson's theory of social development, highlighting key milestones during early childhood (2-6 years). The essay stresses the significance of these theories for nurses to deliver personalized and effective care, considering the individual needs and developmental stages of young patients within a daycare setting.

1Running head: NURSING
Nursing
Name of student:
Name of university:
Author note:

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Life transitions are their related human relationships have always been under focus for
nursing research. The reason is that there is a wide scope for finding new methods by which
nurses can integrate elements of human relationships in their care delivery (Feldman, 2016).
As highlighted by the authors, each stage of life span is to be analysed on the basis of its set
of milestones to come up with appropriate care delivery. The different theories of human
development are crucial in this regard. The essay written in here discusses the social and
cognitive developmental milestones of the three-year-old child Jack who is enrolled in day
care unit for twice a week for five hours. The works of theorists Jean Piaget and Erik Erikson
are the basis of this essay. The importance of understanding life stages for a nurse is also
highlighted in the paper.
The first theory of human development that is considered in this discussion is the
theory of cognitive development that had been put forward by the famous psychologist Jean
Piaget. Through this theory, Piaget aimed at analysing the development of human intelligence
(Jehan & Butt, 2015). The theory, also known as development stage theory goes on to explain
how humans develop their knowledge and apply them for the carrying out regular activities.
Kail (2015) highlight that a child of three years falls under Preoperational Stage that revolves
around children of age between two and seven years. In this stage, a child is starting to
develop cognitive skills and language skills develop properly at this stage only. A child is
seen to demonstrate the ability to speak in complete sentences, thereby expressing his
feelings and thoughts to a better degree. Language development is perhaps the most distinct
feature of this stage. At this conject of life span, a chid is capable of symbolising things as
they tend to be more mature. The authors further highlight that a child who is more than two
years old can create an identity for himself and engage in a make-belief action. Caution is to
be taken while dealign with the child and helping him to understand the differences between

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his caregiver and those who are not as a chid might become egocentric and not respond
desirably to all individuals.
Concerning the present case study, the concern that comes into the light is that Jack
has not been able to achieve adequate language development as per the milestone mentioned
in the Preoperational Stage. This is evident from the fact that Jack speaks in sentences that
have two to three words and no longer than that. He is also found to be babbling most of the
time, indicating that he wants to express himself but is not able to do so due to certain
constraints. The other factor that might be related to babbling is growing egocentric nature.
The child might be suffering from feelings of rejection and loneliness, in the absence of his
mother, Vanessa.
The second theory of human development that is considered in this discussion is the
theory of social development that had been put forward by the famous psychologist Erik
Erikson. As per this theory, the lifespan of an individual is divided into eight stages, of which
the stage involving children aged between two and four years is concerned about the high
calibre of will. At this stage, the power to socialise is strong, and an enhanced sense of
imagination puts the child in a position to understand and perceive the surrounding
environment. A child’s social and emotional development includes an emerging awareness of
self and others (Shapiro & Margolin, 2014). As opined by Sigelman and Rider (2014) a child
at this age is capable of controlling his eliminative function and other similar motor abilities.
The only criteria for this development is a strong care support from parents, especially
mother. In the continual presence of the mother, children gain their own autonomy. Learning
is continual if support is also continual and not hampered by physical separation. A child
would be ready to explore the world if there is a foundation of encouragement from the
mother since a child perceives the mother to be the prime source of care.

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In relation to the present case study, it is seen that Jac, though has attained the age of
three years, has still not in a position to showcase appropriate toileting skills, unlike others.
The fact of the case is that Vanessa, Jack’s mother, puts him into day care for two days in a
week, creating physical separation from him. The impact of this has been constraints in the
development of toileting skils for Jack. The death of support and encouragement from his
mother has limited the development of this social skill. Jack has not become self-sufficient in
the absence of his mother and is not confident about demonstrating the skills his mother had
been trying to teach him at home. Chances are high that Jack is lacking social skills to
communicate with the nurse at the care unit and therefore the care received at the unit is of
less significance pertaining to his development.
The interrelationship between cognitive and social development has been much
studied in the literature. A child’s experiences when he is between thee age of two and five
years effects profoundly his actions in a consequent manner. The manner in which children
respond to the environment, and the ability and eagerness to form trusted relationships are
driven by both social and cognitive development. Cognitive development and social
development are interlinked, with each impacting different actions of the child. As language
skills develop and the child is better able to express himself, he is able to demonstrate his
social skills in a better manner. In addition, if a child has learnt to think in a complex manner,
he might be altering the social skills he had learnt (Bremner, 2017).
Olds (2016) threw light upon the importance of a nurse to understand human
relationships and life transitions. While caring for a child, it is imperative that the nurse has
complete knowledge of the transition phase the child is in. The age of 2-6 years has been
indicated to be crucial for a child’s development as major changes in physical, social and
cognitive abilities are witnessed at this stage. for a nurse to care for a child at this age group
the essence of safe care delivery lies in his ability to allow the life transition theories guide

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the nursing practice. In a fast-paced day care unit, the goal of care would be to provide
personalised care, and this is possible only when there is an increased understanding of the
benchmark that the child had to attain. As human relationships are of prime importance in
every child’s life, a nurse must explore the perception of the child about such relationships in
order to care for him.
The above essay draws the attention of the readers onto the role of nurses in caring for
children who aim to achieve certain cognitive and social milestones according to their age.
Human development is explained through a number of theories, of which the theory of the
social development of Erikson and theory cognitive development of Piaget are of prime
importance. For a nurse to deliver optimal quality care for the child, it is imperative that these
theories are understood adequately.

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References
Bremner, J. G. (2017). An introduction to developmental psychology. John Wiley & Sons.
Feldman, R. S. (2016). Development across the life span. Pearson.
Jehan, S., & Butt, M. N. (2015). Attainment of conservation ability among primary school
children in the light of Piaget’s cognitive theory. VFAST Transactions on Education
and Social Sciences, 5(1).
Kail, R. V. (2015). Children and their development. Pearson Higher Ed.
Olds, D. (2016). Building evidence to improve maternal and child health. The
Lancet, 387(10014), 105-107.
Shapiro, L. A. S., & Margolin, G. (2014). Growing up wired: Social networking sites and
adolescent psychosocial development. Clinical child and family psychology
review, 17(1), 1-18.
Sigelman, C. K., & Rider, E. A. (2014). Life-span human development. Cengage Learning.